Elbert

[Fiori]

Shawn was struggling to stay standing by the time he reached the mountain's peak.

((Shawn Bellamy continued from Al Gore, Al Gorier, Al Goriest))

He'd been climbing up it for, what, how long now? God knows, long enough to work up a sweat anyway, half keeled over with his hands on his knees and gasping for air like a fish on dry land.

He stopped gasping when he heard a set of footsteps following behind him.

He slowly turned around, looking back at the approaching newcomer... And smirked, shooting up and attempting to puff out his chest in a vain attempt at hiding how exhausted he was.

"There, see! What did I tell you, piece of..." he exclaimed, pausing to catch his breath. "Piece of cake!"

Before long he found himself joined by an old friend, even more out of breath than he was given her short height, but unlike him she made little attempt to hide it.

“If I’d known… it would be this easy…” replied Bethany Lyon, waving a hand vaguely in the air, not needing to finish her sarcastic reply to make the point known. But the grin pulling at the corners of her mouth belies her pride in making it too.

Shawn let out small laugh as he wiped his brow, turning away to look out at the horizon. It felt pretty good to make it to the top of that mountain, especially without Bethany's father there correcting them every step of the way. Granted, it was pretty small as far as far mountains went, with a convenient path to follow along for budding young orienteers such as themselves. But hey, it was as good an excuse as any to boast that they climbed a mountain in the Rockies together.

He let out a whistle as he checked out the impressive skyline. "Woah nelly, that is quite the view..." he says, before turning back to Bethany. "What do you say, feel ready to take on Elbert?"

“I’ll… I’ll take a rain check, thanks" Bethany replied, struggling her way up besides him before promptly finding some suitable ground to sit on. “Besides. It *is* a view worth taking in.”

Shawn turned back, a hint of nervousness to his next laugh. "Yeah, hah, I suppose we can see it just dandy from here..."

He turned away and gazes out at the horizon, stretching his arms and closing his eyes as he took a long deep breath. Now THIS was what it felt like to be alive. The wind in his hair, a wide smile on his face, the entire world sprawling out beneath him... He wanted this moment to last forever.

The smile disappeared once he opened his eyes, and found himself back on that fucking island.

He sighed, before pressing on ahead.

((Shawn Bellamy continued in Wendy House))